Loving in Color

WHEN I’M STRESSED I RELAX BY . . . .

Hello and welcome to the incredible thing that is the Randomness of Wednesday. Today our topic is all about combating stress. Oh first let me fill your life with awesome.

Yeah, if looking at him doesn’t relax someone, I don’t know what will.Anyway, I have a variety of things I do to cope with stress. The biggie is reading. I love to read and, as time has gone by, I’ve found more and more genres I like. I especially love nonfiction books and can read two or more of these at the same time. History, science, and social science are some of my favorite topics, also the quirkier the better.Right now I’m reading a few books. One is called My Planet by Mary Roach (she’s awesome and funny). Another is called The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime by Judith Flanders (Yes I swear that’s the title). The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston (an author that makes me laugh out loud)I’m also a knitter. This gives my hands something to do when I’m watching TV. I hate sitting through commercials. If something is really bothering me I’ll read through the commercials because I don’t like to give myself time to worry and worry and worry. It’s useless and often doesn’t solve anything. If I can’t read because my mind is running a million miles an hour I love to do word search puzzles. I have a big book of them and will drag them around with me from room to room.Another relaxing thing is computer games. I like hidden object games and also match 3 deals. I have a couple of them on my computer I can open up whenever the need hits. When I’m doing this I’ll either listen to music or a book on my MP3 player. I love listening to audio books. Right now it’s Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changeling series I’m going through.

If everything else fails, I go out for a drive. I don’t go huge distances, usually to the Starbucks about 20 minutes away, but a drive will help clear my head. Plus, the yummy coffee drink doesn’t hurt either. One thing I never, ever do is go to places such as Target. Stress will make me fill up my cart with stupid stuff that I don’t need and I’ll roll out with a huge bill. Nope, been there, done that and don’t want to go back. So shopping isn’t an option. I also don’t craft when I’m stressed. I need to be able to concentrate when I’m doing something like making jewelry. I’ve discovered stress and concentration do not go together. Though, I will go through Pinterest to look for crafting ideas. Right now, I’m planning for Halloween. I know, don’t judge, so I’m looking around for decoration ideas.Now run over and check out what the other girls do to alleviate stress.JessicaBronwynKrisKellieJessica D